Birthday
by payroo
Summary: Little Endrin cannot wait for his uncles Faren and Zev to visit Orzammar on his seventh birthday. They are the bestest heroes ever, after all, even if they come from the surface, and they've got a great big dog too! Fluffy post-game oneshot.


Endrin woke up even before his Nan; he was so excited. Today was his seventh birthday and Uncle Faren and Uncle Zev were coming.

Uncle Faren was always so nice to him and brought him presents, like his favoritest toy. He called it a 'Mabari,' but it was too hard to say so Uncle Faren said he could just call it 'Dog,' like the big hairy creature he had brought with him. The 'Dog' had been smelly and it tickled when it licked him. He hoped Uncle Faren was bringing 'Dog' again.

Uncle Zev was tall and had pointy ears and talked funny. Once he saw Uncle Zev kissing Uncle Faren, which was yucky, but Uncle Zev was also nice and made him laugh, so Endrin liked him too.

He waited impatiently for Nan to wake up, but he didn't bother her because Mommy had told him to be nice to her since she was 'Getting On in Years.' Mommy would be happy Uncle Faren and Uncle Zev were coming, too. He decided to find her so that his uncles would come faster.

Endrin slipped out from his blankets and toddled through the halls, which were always a little bit too cold and big. It was a little scary all by himself, when everyone else was still asleep and the halls were so empty. But Mommy's room was right next door, and he was almost there.

"Endrin! What are you doing all by yourself?" It was Daddy. Daddy didn't talk to Endrin that much, and he was always so serious. He was a little scary, even if he was always nice to Endrin.

"Uh, Uncle Faren and Uncle Zev are coming, and I wanted to find Mommy and it's my birthday," Before he could finish explaining, Endrin found himself being lifted into the air by Daddy's big hands.

"That's right, you turn seven today!" Daddy smiled, which was strange because he didn't smile that much, but it made Endrin happy anyway. "We'll have a big celebration today when your uncles come, but just don't go by yourself," and as he said that his face became serious again. "You should always stay with your mother or your nanny. It's not safe for you to be alone."

Daddy was now at Mommy's room, and he opened the door, saying, "Rica, our son couldn't wait for your brother and his elf to come, so he was wandering about on his own. Make sure he doesn't do that again. You know how dangerous Orzammar politics can get." And Daddy was kind of scary again, even though he didn't raise his voice or yell.

"Of course, my love. I'll tell his nanny to be more careful." Mommy seemed sad, but before Endrin could start worrying Daddy left and she swooped down on him, scolding, "You should listen to Daddy."

"Mommy, make Uncle Faren and Uncle Zev come faster! It's my birthday!" he whined, tugging at the hem of her dress.

She laughed. "Uncle Faren and Uncle Zev come from the surface, remember? It's very far away."

"And their palace is really big and it's next to a really big lava pool, just like here!"

Mommy chuckled as she dressed him. "It's not really a palace they live in, and it's water, not lava, in the pool. The water is called the Amaranthine Sea."

"Have _you_ ever seen the water pool?" he chirped, so excited he put his sleeves on backwards.

"No, but I went to the surface once, when your Uncle Faren stopped the Blight," Mommy sighed as she fixed his sleeves. "It's very scary at first because there's no ceiling, only sky."

Endrin looked at the ceiling and tried to imagine what it would be like without it. He shuddered to think of a sky that just went on and on. He didn't want to think about it anymore.

"Uncle Faren is a hero! I wanna be just like him!" He thought about it for a bit. "Except I don't wanna kiss Uncle Zev. That's yucky."

Then Mommy told him his favoritest story, the story of how Uncle Faren, with help from Uncle Zev, killed the big bad Archdemon and saved the world. He never understood the part about him being a Grey Warden; nothing about Uncle Faren was grey.

Finally, after lunchtime, they came to the palace! Uncle Faren and Uncle Zev and even 'Dog' were all there. Endrin squealed with glee and ran to Uncle Faren, who laughed with his deep voice and picked him up. When he hugged him his stubbly beard, much shorter than Daddy's, was scratchy and he smelled like nothing in Orzammar. The first time Endrin had met Uncle Faren, he had been scared because his face was covered in blue marks, much more than the 's' shape Mommy had under her eye. But now he thought they looked kind of cool.

"How is my favorite nephew?" Uncle Faren was being funny, because Endrin was pretty sure he was his only nephew. "And how is his mother?" he added, putting Endrin down and giving Mommy a big hug.

"Fine as ever," she laughed. "Not as good as I would be if you visited more often. I missed you, little brother. Good to see you again too, Zevran."

Uncle Zev bent down (he was so tall!) and ruffled Endrin's hair. "You're looking as lovely as usual, dear sister. My, how big Endrin is becoming! He'll be taller than me any day now." He smiled and turned to his pack. "And if I'm not mistaken, I do believe it's a certain young dwarf's seventh birthday?"

"Me, it's my birthday!" Endrin jumped up and down with excitement. 'Dog' barked happily and licked him, making him giggle.

"Happy birthday, Endrin," Uncle Faren held a tiny 'Dog,' not even the size of a nug. "He's yours now; take good care of him."

"Can I name him?" Endrin was surprised at how warm the tiny 'Dog' was when Uncle Faren carefully handed him over.

"Of course, whatever you'd like."

"Then I'll call him Dog!" The big 'Dog' barked again and wagged its stubby tail.

"I see your nephew shares your eloquence with names," Uncle Zev said to Uncle Faren, who snorted but didn't seem annoyed. Uncle Zev always talked so funny.

"Oh Faren, you shouldn't have!" said Mommy, but she looked very happy. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble to get."

"Not at all," Uncle Faren said, though Endrin wasn't paying much attention anymore; he was having fun petting his Dog. "Dog must have been taking pointers from Zev, as he's bred quite a few litters for himself."

"What can I say? I'm a good influence all around."

"Anyway," and Uncle Faren seemed a bit more serious, "It'll be good for the boy to have a Mabari to protect him, if things are really getting as tense as I hear."

"Thank you, Faren." Mommy seemed kind of worried, but she patted Endrin on the head and sent him off with Nan to the kitchens, where a great big cake was sure to be waiting for him, since it was his seventh birthday after all and he had just gotten a wonderful Dog from his Uncle Faren who was a hero.


End file.
